If you know one thing about us here at chambanamoms, we dig our frozen treats (go vote for your favorite on our Reader’s Choice Awards food ballot). We’ve kept you posted about when Custard Cup re-opens after its winter slumber; told you about the Sidney Dairy Barn; and professed our love for Campustown’s Cocomero.
When I heard that TCBY was opening at old Farm Shoppes in Champaign, I was bemused. I wouldn’t exactly call it a frozen treat desert around here — Custard Cup is down the street, and DQ isn’t far — but I thought it was a genius location.
Then I was curious about the store itself. If you remember TCBY from when we were kids, it was pretty much soft serve – chocolate/vanilla swirl being my favorite. As I found out Wednesday, you can tell your kids this isn’t their mother’s TCBY.
The new TCBY is completely different, following the self-serve model popularized locally at Cocomero, and more recently, City Girl Yogurt in Urbana. Patrons get a cup and fill it with as much frozen yogurt as they want — and toppings, that range from nuts to fruits to candy to sauces — and have it weighed. It is priced at $.49 cents per ounce.
The range of flavors we had to choose from Wednesday included blackberry (no sugar added); strawberry; honey vanilla; white chocolate mousse; cake batter; orange sorbet; peanut butter cup; Oreo cookies and cream; and tart (not very good, management told me it was getting yanked) .
The range of toppings is impressive – all the traditional stuff you’re used to plus some that really stood out to me: hot fudge with no sugar added, Andees mints, fizzy candy, Fruity Pebbles cereal, frosted animal crackers, and something called “chocolate rocks” that I tasted. (Evidently, as an employee noted to me, chocolate rocks are notable for being very pretty on the yogurt. They were tasty, too.)
What excites me most about TCBY is that I can indulge in some yogurt without feeling guilty. I am on a low-sugar/carb diet for health reasons, and the honey vanilla is made with Greek yogurt. According to the nutritional information, for every 4 ounces, the honey vanilla flavor has 20 carbs; 100 calories; and 8 grams of protein.
And it tastes AMAZING. My 3-year-old, who was my special date, didn’t even taste a difference. She ate hers with sprinkles and the aforementioned frosted animal crackers.
I’m sure we will have more special dates at TCBY. She said it best when we left: “Mommy, that was yummy in my tummy.”
Editor’s Note: TCBY in Champaign will celebrate its grand opening on Aug. 10 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Free yogurt for a year to the first 50 customers; first 3 ounces free to everyone that day; and other giveaways.